02. Research Projects

Having previously looked at the different types of GCSE courses and how they are assessed, in the third and final blog of this series, Dr Rhian Barrance outlines recent research on tiering and considers how fair it is for different groups of students. Tiering has been used for GCSEs since they were introduced in 1986.Read more

Earlier this week we looked at the recent reforms to GCSEs across England, Northern Ireland and Wales and considered students’ views on linear and modular courses. In the second part of this series exploring students’ perspectives on the fairness of GCSEs, Dr Rhian Barrance considers whether internal assessment should be used alongside exams. The questionRead more

The 28-30th July marked the 8th annual Social Media & Society Conference. The conference is organised by the Social Media Lab at Ryerson University in Toronto and this year it returned home to Canada after last year’s excursion to Goldsmiths in London. WISERD Research Associate, Dr Wil Chivers presented at both of these conferences and inRead more

As part of the WISERD Cardiff lunchtime seminar series, Dr Ian Thomas reported recent findings from his exploration into the Internet’s effects on sexuality. He questions whether the Internet is an intermediary and/or a mediator, and whether it is altering our understanding of sexuality. In my WISERD lunchtime seminar, I began by drawing on theRead more

There is a well-established conventional wisdom that today’s young people are a politically alienated generation, meaning that they are seen as estranged or withdrawn from politics. Whether it is their low turnout in elections or their support for protest and social movements, the young are held up as a generation put off politics by theRead more

Has Brexit increased the political engagement of Britain’s youth? The idea that Brexit has engaged the young to such an extent that they voted in high numbers in the recent general election has been a prominent feature of the public autopsy of the result.[1] There is little question that the young voted in greater numbersRead more

Public trust in the political establishment is an integral part of voter choice in any election or referendum, but more crucially it upholds the democratic process. Without some degree of trust in politicians, political parties, experts and the media, state-societal relations would hit a gridlock. Without trust, people would be less likely to vote andRead more

It is difficult to think of an election in which the votes of young people – age 18 to 25 – have caused more of a stir. Of course, the youth vote was expected to be important in the EU referendum, the Scottish independence referendum and just about every general election since the voting ageRead more

Professor John Morgan recently presented his research on higher education and social justice in China at a WISERD lunchtime seminar. Professor Morgan has been collaborating with Dr Bin Wu, senior research fellow at Nottingham University Business School on this topic. China is a country marked by sharp differences in regional development and by social inequalities,Read more

– College student, Heads of the Valleys. The dominant view among young people with regard to Brexit, is one of anger or frustration at not being allowed to vote. As part of a broader WISERD project exploring education, language and identity, a research team at Aberystwyth University has been travelling around the country to interview under-18sRead more